blog action day: climate change

decided to keep it short and sweet this year- even though the U of C study is a few years old, it bears repeating:

Researchers at the University of Chicago have calculated the relative carbon intensity of a standard vegan diet in comparison to a US-style carnivorous diet, all the way through from production to processing to distribution to cooking and consumption. An average burger man (that is, not the outsize variety) emits the equivalent of 1.5 tonnes more CO2 every year than the standard vegan. By comparison, were you to trade in your conventional gas-guzzler for a state of the art Prius hybrid, your CO2 savings would amount to little more than one tonne per year.

quote taken from this Guardian article, 2006

(also, don't let people side-track you by talking about large-scale production of crops such as soy and corn that feed vegans- those are the same crops, but on a much larger scale, that meat animals are fed as well! Whether you are vegan or not, you are eating soybeans. It's up to you how.)

blog action day: climate change

pizzzzza

making pizza at home is really nice. but sometimes, it's just as nice to be able to go out for pizza. when you are vegan, that is not always possible, but recently, it's becoming more and more doable all across the country. restaurants, delivery places, and chains are now offering not just the "veggies, no cheese" option that we know and love so well, but all kinds of pizzas made with vegan cheeses such as Teese, Daiya, Cheezly, etc.

here in Syracuse, we have a few vegan pizza options (including The Italian Chef, Dorian's, and Papa John's). one place with a huge and varied menu of vegan pizzas is Strong Hearts Cafe. check out the menu!

Here is the Mediterranean, with Teeze mozarella, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, spinach, garlic, and a zesty tomato sauce. For a lover of thick, bready crusts such as myself, this is pizza heaven. With so many options, you're sure to find the pizza of your dreams- just make sure it's Friday, the only night that Strong Hearts currently does pizza!

Strong Hearts Cafe
719 E Genesee Street
Syracuse, NY 13210

pizzzzza

joe-joe cuppos

If you are lucky enough to live by a Trader Joe's, you might be familiar with this seasonal treat: peppermint candy cane Joe Joes. These are rich chocolate cookies with a creamy minty filling that is chock full of crushed candy canes. An awesome winter treat. Like some other vegans I know, I stockpile these limited-time treats every year. Then, in the summer, I can make the cupcakes you see above- chocolate mint cuppers, mint buttercream frosting, and a piece of cookie on top! I loved this spin on the cookies 'n cream cupcakes, and so did my friend for whose birthday I baked them. Mmmm.

joe-joe cuppos

the vegan 100

I'm home from Europe! Surprise, surprise, I didn't blog from the road... but I'm back with a vengeance- I'm going to shoot for 2 blog posts most days, to make up for my 10-day absence, as well as posting many updates to VeganMoFo Headquarters. Stay tuned for posts about Helsinki, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest, as well as more oldie-but-goodie posts from the photo archives. Here, as a way of easing back in to blogging, is the newest iteration of the Vegan 100 list. If you are also doing this list, I'd love to see yours- let me know!

1) Copy this list into your blog or social networking site profile, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out or italicize any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment on this post linking to your results.

The Vegan Hundred:

1. Molasses
2. Cactus/Nopales
3. Scrambled Tofu
4. Grilled Portobella Caps
5. Fresh Ground Horseradish
6. Sweet Potato Biscuits
7. Arepa
8. Vegan Coleslaw
9. Ginger Carrot Soup
10. Fiddlehead Ferns
11. Roasted Elephant Garlic
12. Umeboshi
13. Almond Butter Toast
14. Aloe Vera
15. H and H Bagel NYC
16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash
17. White truffle (in oil form- does that count?)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Freshly ground wasabi
20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider
23. Organic California Mango (in season Sept-Oct only)
24. Quinoa
25. Papaya Smoothie
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet or Habañero pepper (does salsa/sauce count?)
27. Goji Berry Tea
28. Fennel
29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread (not yet, but have always wanted to- with a bit of salt)
31. Starfruit
32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread
33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices <-- how snooty does this sound?
34. Sauerkraut
35. Acai Smoothie
36. Blue Foot Mushrooms
37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes nyc
38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo
39. Falafel
40. Spelt Crust Pizza
41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms <-- what?
42. Jicama Slaw
43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings <-- huh?
44. Hemp Milk
45. Rose Champagne
46. Fuyu (YES- persimmons are among my favorite fruits)
47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup
48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich
49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne fresh-pressed juice...with Extra Ginger (I've had this, save for the cayenne)

50. Grilled Seitan
51. Prickly pear
52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk
53. Concord Grapes off the vine
54. Ramps
55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut
56. Organic Arugula
57. Vidalia Onion
58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics
59. Honeycrisp Apple
60. Poi
61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores
62. Grape seed Oil
63. Farm fresh-picked Peach
64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus
65. Chestnut Snack Packs
66. Fresh Guava
67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
68. Raw Mallomar from One Lucky Duck, NYC <-- ha, funny, considering my recent post about One Lucky Duck
69. Fried plantains
70. Mache
71. Golden Beets
72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles
73. Liquid Smoke
74. Meyer Lemon
75. Veggie Paella
76. Vegan Lasagna
77. Kombucha
78. Homemade Soy Milk
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Lychee Bellini remember (scroll down the post)??
81. Tempeh Bacon
82. Sprouted Grain Bread
83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh
84. Vanilla Bean
85. Watercress
86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself
87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie
88. Flowers
89. Corn Chowder
90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate (like cocoa? or nibs? or a packaged bar? not clear here)
91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi
92. White Flesh Grapefruit
93. Harissa
94. Coconut Oil
95. Jackfruit
96. Homemade Risotto
97. Spirulina
98. Seedless 'Pixie' Tangerine
99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought
100. Fresh Plucked English Peas

80 out of 100, cool! Warning- do not attempt this list before breakfast- extreme hunger might ensue!

the vegan 100

one lucky duck- good, but insanely expensive

just a short and sweet mofo post/restaurant review today. while you're reading this, I'm heading to JFK airport and getting ready to leave the country!

While I was in New York City last April, my friend D. and I were walking around. It was a chilly day, so we decided to duck (no pun!) into a cozy little place to warm up. D. mentioned that she had seen a raw vegan place that she thought I might be interested in, One Lucky Duck. Well, I'd heard of them (Pure Food and Wine's little outpost), and I was intrigued.

So we ordered a pot of tea to share, and a piece of tiramisu to share. The bill came to over $23. That is stupid expensive! Good thing the tiramisu was good because... I'm never going back here again until a)I win the lottery b)I get a sugar daddy or c)I decide to quit paying my mortgage!

The next day I went back there and said I'd really liked their raw tiramisu, and I don't live near the restaurant, so would they be willing to share the recipe with me? The answer was "no, but you can buy our upcoming cookbook." PFFFFFT.

one lucky duck- good, but insanely expensive

carrot jam?

yes, carrot jam! remember my uncle who lives in Sweden? We visited him last October? Well, I was really thrilled to have him visit us here in Syracuse last April. Daii is a really good cook. While staying with him, I'd enjoyed a unique jam that he had made- made up of carrots (and also apples, lemon, cardamom and vanilla.) The flavor is so good, the jam is so fragrant and bright and vibrant, you have to try some yourself! I photographed while he was making the jam, and will now give you a photo-essay:

zest and juice some lemons.

peel and grate some carrots and tart apples.

add some sugar and pectin- or, sugar with pectin already included, like what daii brought!

add some cardamom (crushed pods, or ground, if pods, you'll have to fish them out once the jam is done) and vanilla.

cook and cook and cook and cook

and cook some more! skim the foam and other debris (cardamom bits?) periodically.

let cool completely, then pour into sterilized jars. I didn't can these (I haven't canned anything yet!), because we were going to give a lot of them away and I was sure they'd be gobbled up quickly. In addition, since they weren't heat-treated, the jam retained a fresh, crisp character. Store them in the refrigerator. We are working on our last jar right now, so this jam has stayed good for at least 6 months! Try it today- I know you'll like it!

carrot jam?

my little veganmofo tradition

Happy October, everyone- VeganMoFo III is upon us! It's so thrilling to be part of such a large group of bloggers participating in this yearly event. For the last 2 years, I have had a tradition of kicking off MoFo with a post dedicated to my favorite hot and comforting beverage- well, mine and a few billion others' ... tea! (Click here to see the 2007 and 2008 posts.)

I love any kind of tea (actually, I don't love that many herbal teas, but give me black, green, white, red...) any time of day. But I have to admit, a hot cuppa kicks some seriously special ass on a cold, wet day.

Which is where I found myself late last October, in the town of Bath, England...

clouds and rain? check. umbrella? check. wellies? check. all that was missing was... you guessed it...
Daiku and I ducked into a coffee shop, where I was pleasantly surprised that they had soy milk. Yay for random vegan finds in random cafés in random cities! So without further ado...

my little veganmofo tradition